[R-G] Colonialism and the Economic Crisis in Canada

[Anthony Fenton]

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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 205 .... April 19, 2009
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Colonialism and the Economic Crisis
  in Canada

Todd Gordon

The Left in Canada has been quick to point out the shortcomings of the  
Conservative government's official response to the recession. Not  
surprisingly, the response doesn't mark a departure from their knee- 
jerk pro-capital and anti-worker reflexes.

Critics have rightly stressed the small size of the stimulus plan;  
that a significant chunk of the supposed stimulus (50 percent) is  
actually tax breaks, and thus not really stimulus; that the Tories  
failed to revamp Employment Insurance rules beyond temporarily  
extending the length of time a person can receive benefits to a mere  
50 weeks, even though less than 40 percent of the unemployed actually  
qualify for benefits and the most a person can receive is a meagre 55  
percent of their wages (capped at $447/week); and that bailout  
spending, such as that in the auto sector, is being used to roll back  
working-class living standards and job security that had been built up  
over a half century of struggle.

These are indeed serious problems with the way in which the  
Conservatives, with the largely uncritical support of the Liberals,  
are addressing the economic crisis: putting the needs of capital ahead  
of the social needs of Canadians.

But we have to be very careful on the Left about how we advance our  
criticism of the government's strategy. As the recession deepens into  
the worst global downturn since the Great Depression people will quite  
rightly demand more from their government. Calls will be made for the  
government to spend more and create good jobs for people. And  
organizations of the Left will play a central role articulating those  
demands and mobilizing people for the inevitable struggle that will be  
necessary for the demands to become actual policy.

However, the government's response to the recession has a sharply  
colonial dynamic to it. And if we aren't cognizant of this dynamic we  
risk reproducing it in our efforts to build an alternative way of  
dealing with the crisis. The fight for a more socially just Canada  
will be an anti-colonial struggle in support of indigenous rights, or  
it won't be at all.

Exploiting Fear

The Conservative government's goal in this recession is clear: exploit  
the scale of the crisis and the fear and uncertainty it's instilled in  
people to intensify an agenda it and business leaders would otherwise  
have to approach more modestly. The attack on auto workers is a good  
example of this; the expansion of capitalism into indigenous  
territories is as well.

Indigenous land and resources are central to Canadian capitalism,  
plain and simple. Reports written by Indian Affairs and Northern  
Development, Natural Resources Canada and various industry  
organizations make this point plain enough. Most of the mines being  
explored or dug, oil deposits being developed, pipelines being  
constructed and hydro-dams imposed on the landscape are on or adjacent  
to – and thus impact – indigenous territory. All these resources and  
other industrial developments besides, furthermore, require  
infrastructural investments, such as roadways or electricity grids, in  
order to be operationalized, putting even more pressure on First  
Nation lands.

The otherwise relentless growth of a capitalism steamrolling any  
obstacle in its path to making profits has been kept in check in  
Canada, to some degree, by the efforts of First Nations to defend  
their land. In some instances they've directly stopped developments,  
while their cumulative struggle over decades, along with environmental  
campaigning, has led to an oversight system, however very imperfect,  
of environmental assessments and consultations with indigenous  
communities, which has slowed the pace of development down somewhat.  
These oversights, derided by industry organizations and the Harper  
Tories as nothing more than “red tape,” have long been viewed by these  
same critics as a barrier to corporate profitability. The economic  
crisis has given the Tories and business leaders new ammunition to  
mount a frontal assault on these policies, while stepping up and  
expediting infrastructure funding that clearly impacts First Nations.

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